Posts Tagged With: example

The conflict in John’s visions lets up for a moment, and now things are about to get loud!

John has a new vision, this time of the Lamb and the 144,00 marked on their foreheads for rescue and reward. Standing on Mount Zion in the ideal city of God safely away from the pressing of the grapes of God’s wrath outside of the city (14:20). So the praise erupts. A thunderous, cascade of harps and a new song just for the moment.

Who wouldn’t want to be a part of this scene? How does one ensure he will be there (14:4-5)?

Avoid sexual immorality

Follow the example of Jesus aggressively

Be ready to suffer and sacrifice

Speak with utter truth and purity

These qualities would have been especially poignant for the original recipients of this book. Life in the Roman Empire where they were being progressively pushed towards life-and-death decisions made them daily have to determine whether they were willing to remain unspotted like the 144,000 of this vision (maybe recent Christian martyrs like Antipas who had been faithful unto death, 2:14?). A little lie about their beliefs could save them some harassment. Avoiding oppression through participation in the religious cults of the Empire and the trade guilds (unions) of their towns would also place them into sexually immoral situations, for sure. Were they ready to follow Jesus’ example of holiness even to the point of sacrifice?

Many of us are not in the same immediate threat of physical harm and economic marginalization because of our faith. But the pull to engage in a culture that is far too sexual and dishonest is still very real. One can stand out too much in business and culture. One can be too religious, right? The call to faithfulness is one we need to hear too.

Begin with the end in mind

Maybe it helps to think like the second angel mentioned in this chapter:

Babylon the Great has fallen! She has fallen! (14:8)

Remembering that apocalyptic literature is stated in code, Babylon is certainly a reference to Rome. As Babylon was the immoral and barbarous nemesis of the people of God in the last part of the Old Testament, likewise Rome is to the nascent Church. The trouble is that Rome had not fallen. In fact, when John is writing this Rome is a great height of power. She still has the ability to make her mark on these Christians (14:9) and to kill.

Maybe the point is that to live faithfully in the midst of hard times requires end-time vision. We must remain focused on how things end, not how they are right now. We must bear in mind where each of the forks in the road leads in the end, not what they look like right now. The Rome of our lives have fallen. They are fading away. The Lamb will win in the end. A new city is coming where the harvest is gathered in for abundant living (14:14-16). That was certainly one of the reasons for this whole book: the give end-time vision to a persecuted people so as to strengthen their resistance. Often, we need that encouragement too.

What do you say to brand new Christians? I see Paul saying three things to the young, young Thessalonian Christians in this passage.

1. You are off to a great start!

When you received the word, you had a lot to suffer, but you also had the holy spirit’s joy. As a result, you became a model for all the believers in both Macedonia and Achaea. For the word of the Lord has resonated out from you, not only in Macedonia and Achaea; your faith has gone out to people everywhere. (1:6b-8a)

They have started strong and have so much to build on. They just need to keep on going as they have already.

2. Follow our example!

You know what sort of people we became for your sake, when we were among you. And you learned how to copy us — and the Lord! (1:5b-6a)

When you are starting something, it always helps to have an example to follow. Paul did not shy away from claiming to be such an example, and he didn’t come off as prideful either. Paul is following Jesus, so if they follow Paul they are also following Jesus. Could we say that to a new Christian? The truth is new Christians are following our examples, whether we want them to or not, whether we encourage it or not.

3. Don’t even think twice about turning back now!

They themselves tell the story of the kind of welcome we had from you, and how you turned to God from idols, to serve a living and true God, and to wait for his son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead — Jesus, who delivers us from the coming fury. (1:9-10)

There is a day of wrath and fury coming for those who have rejected Jesus. The Thessalonians don’t want to fall back into that group. We see that eschatology theme coming through. Keep on going!

There is so much to say about suffering in this chapter, but I am afraid with school activities and deadlines I do not have the time to do it justice. Help me out! Share with us today what you learned from this chapter. Here are the verses I was drawn to today and a few initial and random thoughts about suffering faithfully.

So, then, just as the Messiah suffered in the flesh, you too must equip yourselves with the same mental armor. (4:1a)

Jesus had to suffer, so do we really think we will not? But suffering is more successfully faced when he prepare our minds to face it. It we run headlong into hard times clothed only with raw emotion, we should not be surprised when we come out cut, bruised and wounded.

Someone who suffers in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live the rest of their mortal life no longer according to human desires but according to God’s will. (4:1b-2)

Suffering trains the heart and equips us to overcome the weaknesses that allow sin to reside in our lives so easily. Suffering may be as pleasant as working out is for many of us, but it may also be as beneficial in the long run.

They will have to account for it [the curses of sinful people] before the one who is ready to judge the living and the dead. (4:5)

In the middle of all of this talk about suffering, Peter reminds us God gets the last word. Justice will come in the end.

Keep absolutely firm in your love for one another, because “love covers a multitude of sins.” Be hospitable to one another without complaining. Just as each of you has received a gift, so you should use it for ministry to one another. (4:8-10)

We can’t face suffering alone. We need the fellowship of others.

Beloved, don’t be surprised at the fiery ordeal which is coming upon you to test you, as though this were some strange thing that was happening to you. (4:12)

Suffering tests and reveals how genuine our faith really is. That can be a scary outcome. It can also be a blessing.

You are sharing the sufferings of the Messiah. (4:13)

It is one thing to benefit from the sufferings of Jesus. What an esteemed calling to also share in those sufferings, to actually be able to say we know a piece of what Jesus went through!

Caravaggio, “The Crucifixion of Peter” — Peter knew something about “sharing the sufferings of Jesus,” tradition says Peter was crucified in imitation of Jesus, but upside down because he protested that he was not worthy to be crucified the same way Jesus was

For the recipients of 1 Peter a big part of their suffering had to do with injustice. We can read between the lines of this chapter to see that pagans in their communities were “speak[ing] against [them] as evildoers” (2:12), likely “insult[ing]” them (2:23) and producing something “painful” in their lives (2:19). They had every right to fight back, trade insult for insult, and stoop to the level of their slanderers. They were likely even tempted to do so.

Our suffering today comes from many places, including the misdeeds and maliciousness of others. People talk bad about us behind our backs at school and work. People even assassinate the character of others at church. Whether in word or by looks or even simply by exclusion, pain is produced in our lives that we do not deserve. How is a Christian supposed to respond faithfully to that sort of suffering?

Peter starts by reminding us that long before we were “rejected” and “insulted,” Jesus suffered the same treatment. Jesus became the proverbial cornerstone in this house of rejection for which we are the “living stones” (2:4-5).

The Messiah, too, suffered on your behalf, leaving behind a pattern for you, so that you should follow the way he walked. He committed no sin, nor was there any deceit in his mouth. When he was insulted, he didn’t insult in return, when he suffered, he didn’t threaten, but he gave himself up to the one who judges justly. (2:21-23)

In the face of injustice, Jesus relied on his Father to bring justice, he didn’t try to produce it himself.

Of utmost importance, though, is that we face the injustice that comes our way with the spirit of Jesus. Many people have noticed that few New Testament letters seem to echo Jesus as closely as 1 Peter. That is especially clear in today’s chapter. We must not give our offenders any reason to think they were right about us. We are to keep such good conduct, even in the face of injustice, that people are impressed with our virtue and maybe even begin to believe our God is real (2:12). It is our virtue that will “silence foolish and ignorant people” (2:15), not our well-crafted defenses nor by trading insult for insult. If all we do is take our licks when we do something wrong, there is nothing special about that. The higher calling is to “bear patiently” with unjust mistreatment (2:20). That is testimony to a special spirit.

In fact, Peter bottom lines it for us this way:

This, after all, is what came with the terms of your call. (2:21a)

Deep down at the core of what it means to be a Christian was the reality that following Jesus will inevitably bring rejection, injustice, and suffering. Maybe we were looking for the “get out of hell free” card, but it comes with the cost of discipleship.

These are the famous words of St. Francis of Assisi, and good ones at that. Though not a Christian, Mahatma Gandhi said this:

Be the change you wish to see in the world.

Long before both of these men, Paul said something similar to Titus:

Make sure you present yourself as a pattern of good works. Your teaching must be consistent and serious, in healthy speech that is beyond reproach. That way, our opponents will be ashamed, since they won’t have anything bad to say about us. (2:7-8)

The world needs fewer sermons and more people who live the sermons they have already heard. If Titus was ever going to be successful in fulfilling Paul’s charge to create strong churches on the sinful island of Crete, the revolution had to start in his own heart. He could ask for nothing from those Christians and offer nothing to Crete he wasn’t able to be a pattern of. He was to be the walking sermon.

So too with us. We can rage on about the moral decay of our world, but until we are the change we are advocating, things will never get better. Strong churches are composed of Christians with strong character who offer to the world by their very lifestyle an attractive alternative to sin.

I am struck today in this section on qualifications for church leaders like elders and deacons that how these men are viewed in and interact with the wider public of a community is as important to whether they can be leaders as their ability, their church personas, their management skills, their intelligence, and their financial success.

In addition, he [an elder] must have a good reputation with outsiders, so that he may not incur reproach and fall into the devil’s snare. (3:7)

Those who serve you well as deacons, you see, gain a good platform for themselves to speak out boldly in the faith which is in King Jesus. (3:13)

Church leaders exist for the church, but who they are to a wider public must be considered as well.

Much of this new letter from Paul to the Corinthians revolves around a need Paul felt to defend his authority and reputation as an apostle. We saw some of this in 1 Corinthians too. It would appear there were other self-proclaimed apostles who had come to the Corinthian church after Paul who were discrediting Paul and trumpeting their own reputations. In Paul’s response, we find some of the clearest teachings on what it means to be a minister of Christ, what our goal is for ministry, and from where our power comes (and we are all ministers if we choose to be, even if we don’t receive a paycheck from a church). As much as possible, as we make our way through 2 Corinthians I am going to focus my posts on these ideas.

Today’s passage is a familiar one:

But thanks be to God — the God who always leads us in his triumphal procession in the Messiah, and through us reveals everywhere the sweet smell of knowing him. We are the Messiah’s fragrance before God, you see, to those who are being saved and to those who are being lost. To the latter, it’s a smell which comes from death and leads to death; but to the former it’s the smell of life which leads to life. (2:14-16)

It is not our job to save. Our job is to witness, to live, to smell. In fact we can’t help but smell. That is just what happens when we live the way of Christ in this world. People will sense something from our lives about what it means to know and be known by God. Whether they like the aroma of our life is also out of our control. Some will, some won’t. And in the context of this passage, it has nothing to do with our level of sincerity. Lost people can’t appreciate the smell of life. But saved people find it as comforting as the smell of home-made brownies. Our job is to walk, and even this is out of our control. Prisoners of war were paraded, often in chains, through cities like Corinth in a “triumphal procession.” God is even in control of where we walk. Yet, we walk, and as we do a smell is emitted. That is our job: to smell.

Wow! We balk at a verse like that, because it sounds pompous. But what an incredible thing to be able to say with the right heart. The heart that says that can’t be proud; Jesus was not proud, so how could a proud person validly say that? To be able to say with true humility that other Christians should follow you as you follow Jesus — that is a truly great goal!

This week begins a new school year for me and for many of the people who read this blog. Many of us are also parents and active members and mentors in churches. Little eyes are watching, even if they are attached to a 17-year-old football player’s massive body. Some day (it won’t be this year or any soon, I am afraid) I hope to be able to say that with credibility.

There were lots of other interesting things in this chapter; what caught your eye?